


Affinity

by nightsstarr



Series: Annette Week 2020 [1]
Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Annette Week 2020, Annette is kind of oblivious, Character Study, F/M, Sylvain is kind of a jerk, White Clouds, even though it's annette's week, of sylvain, sry annie
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-07
Updated: 2020-05-07
Packaged: 2021-03-02 20:08:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,188
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24052627
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nightsstarr/pseuds/nightsstarr
Summary: Sylvain wasn't looking for any company in the library, he really meant to study like the Professor asked. Certain things, though, distract him pretty easily.
Relationships: Annette Fantine Dominic & Sylvain Jose Gautier, Annette Fantine Dominic/Felix Hugo Fraldarius
Series: Annette Week 2020 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1735213
Comments: 16
Kudos: 71





	Affinity

Sylvain stretched his shoulders as he shifted in the uncomfortable library chair. The library was not his usual haunt, and a group of younger girls from some other class were ducking behind their books as they whispered.

He wondered if they were whispering about him. Girls usually were, for one reason or another. Dying to have his Crest babies, or trying to place him among Faerghus's nobles, or if she was really oblivious, just thinking he was cute, in the conventional way.

He didn't care enough about their opinions to hide his curious glance in their direction, one eyebrow raised as a smirk pulled at his lip. Two of the girls hastily ducked behind their books once more, but one of them glowered at him.

She was cute, with a heart-shaped face and full lips, a slender body that was nice but kind of forgettable. He held her gaze until she ducked her head, too.

If she was angry, he might've slept with her. Maybe in the months leading up to the ball. Or maybe they made out a few times. He really couldn't recall.

Her friend, though. Her face was pink, and she kept glancing at him around her book like he was some forbidden thing, and Sylvain smiled widely at her before pushing his fingers through his hair and leaning his head on his hand casually and returning to his book.

He'd  _ just _ passed his Paladin certification, why the professor was so adamant he study Reason was beyond him. It wasn't like it was hard, and it  _ was  _ actually sort of interesting in theory. On some level, Sylvain sort of  _ appreciated  _ the Professor's desire for a well-balanced knight. He fully expected to be trained up in lances to the neglect of any other skill. All the better to wield the Holy Relic, that horrid Lance of Ruin. But the Professor wasn't like most people, and Sylvain liked that fact as much as it unsettled him. 

He was busy carefully running his eyes over the shy girl as he deliberately turned a page in his textbook, her face turning pinker and pinker the longer his eyes were on her. A loud thump snapped him out of his thoughts, and he was honestly a little annoyed to find Annette Dominic's hair loops just barely visible over the tower of books she'd set down on the table.

"You know, it's almost funny seeing you in the library," she said, as though he had invited her to sit with him.

"Annette…" Sylvain said slowly. "What in blazing Ailell do you need all of these for?"

"I've just passed my Priest certification," she said, as though that explained anything.

Yes, Annette Dominic never did anything for fun, except eat the pastries the lovely Mercedes von Martritz brought to her. Not only did she pass her Warlock certification before Lysithea, causing some big upset in the Golden Deer, she then decided to go back and start studying Faith and pass  _ those _ certification exams.

"Yeah, that was like, two days ago, right? Shouldn't you take a break?"

"A break?" she demanded, incredulous. "I can't take a break. The school year's almost over! And I'm not even at Bishop yet!"

"So your plan is to, what, take the Bishop exam before we graduate?"

She nodded. "And the Gremory exam."

Sylvain laughed, but Annete brushed her palms over her skirt and a hurt expression crossed over her features as she plopped into the chair across from him.

"Wait… you're not joking?" Sylvain asked, genuinely confused. "You know it takes at least  _ months _ to master a class."

"That's why I can't take any breaks," Annette said resolutely.

"Taking two certification exams in two months sounds literally crazy."

Behind the redhead, the girls at the other table were leaving. The shy girl lingered to push in her chair and Sylvain winked at her, pleased that her face turned a deep pink before his eyes and she scurried to catch up to the other two.

Annette flipped open one of the books and settled in companionably across from him. She'd set up a blank piece of paper and a pen at an ink pot, ready for note taking.

Sylvain realized then that maybe he should be taking notes on his Reason studies. 

He didn't really find the need--Reason was highly logical, using formulas to call magic into being and using that magic for a means to an end. It wasn't hard to summon fire to his hand or call it down on an enemy during battle.

Faith, though? Using the Goddess's energy in all things to shove away entropy and bring things into a specific order? Sylvain couldn't wrap his mind around that. He didn't care much for the workings of a Goddess who would not only allow but "gift" a terrible thing like Crests onto humanity.

"Snickerdoodles, right?" Annette asked after several minutes of silence between them.

"What?" Sylvain demanded. 

"Those are your favorite, right?"

Just the  _ word _ was making him salivate, actually. 

"How did you know that?"

Annette looked up at him through her bangs as she scratched notes onto her paper. "I know everyone's favorites now. I said I would learn them, and I did. I just want to double check before I get to baking."

Something in Sylvain's chest dissolved. It wasn't some special attention she'd paid to him--she'd done the same investigating for each of their classmates. He was equally relieved and disappointed, which was kind of surprising. Little Annette wasn't usually the object of his fascination. They'd spoken plenty, and she even seemed to be under the impression that they were friends. She had pretty eyes, he noted as she returned them to her book. Nice and bright and wide. He wondered how'd they look if she were to see him without his shirt, innocent and curious and a little scared but in a way that Sylvain was an expert in handling. 

Her eyelashes weren't as long as, say, Dorothea's or Marianne's, but they still cast soft shadows over her face. Her cheeks were round and full, and he could probably touch one of them with his thumb while the rest of his fingers were curled in her ginger hair. Just how long was her hair, anyway? He'd never seen her without those adorable braided loops. It would be a pretty sight.

"You've stopped studying," Annette said without looking up. "Are you stuck?"

"Not on that, no," he answered, and he didn't even have to try to lower the pitch of his voice.

Annette turned the page and after a moment, looked up at him again. "What do you mean?" she asked, nose wrinkled in confusion. It was really cute. They could put her face on a poster and sell sweets. "What are you studying?" she demanded, and she pushed almost completely out of her seat as she snatched his book from his hands.

"Oh, Bolganone? It's the same idea as Cutting Gale. I could teach it to you, easy." At the mention of spellcasting, Annette's expression became lighter, more joyful, and Sylvain considered leading her from the library with a hand on her back toward the training grounds, working up a sweat with her, casting magic and impressing her with his skill until she became flustered--

"I  _ said," _ Annette interrupted, surly, "have you memorized the six elements and how to form their sigils?"

Of course he hadn't.

Annette rolled her eyes at him. "Here," she said, and she flipped through a specific book until she came upon a page with illustrations and charts, and she shoved it at him. "Take a look."

"I really don't need help," Sylvain said gently. She wilted, disappointed, her bottom lip sticking out slightly, a light blush over her cheeks, her eyes cast low on the table between them. It was really sort of cute. The kind of expression he endeavored to change on a girl's face, at least until after he was through with her. He laughed and added, "Not with studying, anyway."

She raised her eyes to him again, light blue with flecks of green--Sylvain really liked blue eyes on a girl, and they went nicely with her light ginger hair--and she asked, "Oh? Is there something else you need help with?"

Not much surprised Sylvain anymore, especially not when it came to flirting. But Annette was so eager to please, it actually made him a little warm. It would be so easy to teach her what to do, how to move, where to put her hands, what to do with her  _ mouth-- _

He was completely unprepared for Felix's presence at the table. The swordsman, usually light on his feet, sat heavily in the chair next to Annette, diagonal from Sylvain.

"Hi, Felix," she chirped, as though he always sat next to her at the library. "What brings you here?"

Felix leveled his worst glare at Sylvain. "We were supposed to meet up  _ forty-five minutes  _ ago."

"Oh," Sylvain said lamely. He shrugged at Felix light heartedly. "Whoops."

"Whoops," Felix repeated angrily, scowling. 

Annette giggled at them, and Sylvain noticed Felix look her way. His expression softened just a little.

"You waited forty-five minutes to look for me?" Sylvain asked.

"No. I waited twenty, then Caspar started insisting that if I wasn't using the grounds for sparring I should let him and Raphael have them. So I sparred him for it."

"I bet you won," Annette said in a placating tone. "No way Caspar could beat you, if you had a sword!"

"I  _ did _ win, as a matter of fact. Which meant that we would've been able to go after that, but you still didn't show up," Felix said accusingly. 

"You still got in a spar with Caspar," Sylvain said diplomatically. "I don't see why it matters."

Felix only glared at him. "What are you doing in here, anyway?"

"Sylvain's studying magic!" Annette answered excitedly.

"Reason," Sylvain clarified. "The professor insisted."

"I think it's great. Everyone should have at least basic familiarity with magic. If not for spellcasting purposes, then for defense.” She was looking between the two boys, speaking to both of them. She gave a funny start, as though she suddenly remembered something, and turned her full attention to Felix. “Speaking of which, I was studying up on some swordsmanship techniques and I had some questions, and I thought, 'Who's the best swordsman I know?' And here he is, interrupting my study session. Hang on, let me get out my notes." Annette bent to retrieve some loose papers out of her bag, and while she missed the deep red blush on Felix's cheeks, Sylvain didn't.

Maybe he just didn't know how to tell her to leave him alone, which didn't seem like something Felix normally had trouble with, but Sylvain was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.

"Maybe the professor would be able to help with that," he said as Annette laid out a stack of paper, all covered from top to bottom in neat, bubbly handwriting. 

"Oh! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bother you, Felix." Annette deflated again. It was almost funny how quickly she flitted from state to state. 

"It's fine," Felix said dismissively. "It's not like I have anything better to do."

"Well… if you're sure!"

Felix nodded, and Annette scooted her chair closer to his and carefully flipped through loose pages. "Oh, here! When performing a ripost from a close-range attack with a lance, the text states--"

Completely uninterested in the finer points of swordsmanship, Sylvain studied his younger classmates carefully.

Annette was leaning close to Felix as she spoke, speaking animatedly, and making a lot of eye contact. Normally sure signs that a girl was into somebody, but Annette was so enthusiastic with  _ everyone,  _ it was hard to tell. 

Felix, however, was leaning just as close to Annette, but he wasn't looking over her notes. He was glancing up at her face, which was unusual for Felix. He was watching her hands as she gestured, and he leaned over the table on his elbow as though he were completely relaxed. 

Sylvain had  _ never _ seen Felix so at ease with someone, sometimes not even with him and Ingrid. It stung a little. Annette barely earned a slot in Felix's life, but just because she, what, danced around the greenhouse until she yelled at him and then tried to buy her way into his good graces with chores meant that she was allowed to be his friend? Or something even  _ worse  _ than that? 

She mimed a gesture that assumedly would've been done with a sword and Felix chuckled at her.

It was kind of nice to see, Sylvain had to admit. Maybe it was good for him to get to know people other than him and Ingrid. Maybe it would help him move past some of the things they couldn't help him with, even after five years.

Sylvain flipped his book closed. Neither Annette nor Felix looked up. He quietly slipped out of the library, alone.

He'd just have to teach Felix to break her heart before she broke his, that's all.

**Author's Note:**

> So I feel like I kind of got away from the prompt being Reason and also the Annette factor but I've got some Thoughts and Annette and Sylvain and this was the perfect time to throw them out into the void. The Nettelix relationship aspect is minor but I'm including the tag because that's my home. If it was too minor let me know and I'll adjust


End file.
